Chapter 227 — Kin
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 8
He walked on in silence, came before the bier, and knelt. Three times he struck his head to the floor before Tian Buhui's remains. Then he turned and knelt prostrate before Su Wan.
"Your disciple..." His voice broke off abruptly. A long while passed before he was heard to begin again, in a low, deep tone: "Your disciple Zhang... Xiaofan pays his respects to our master's wife."
Behind him, Song Dayi and the other five disciples of Dazhu Peak looked toward him, their expressions somewhat complex, but what showed most was still that joy and closeness of blood thicker than water.
Even Su Wan's face revealed a faint trace of comfort. She gazed at Ming Li and nodded, then a flicker of pain crossed her features. Looking to Tian Buhui, she said softly, "Buhui, do you hear? It's Old Seven. He's come back to knock his head for you."
Ming Li knelt prostrate at Su Wan's feet, unable to speak.
Behind him came the sound of choked sobbing.
The smoke curled and drifted slowly, and the Hall of Quiet Cultivation seemed to blur into a kind of haze. Whether it was because its master was gone, even this hall now looked hollow and empty, not in the least loud or crowded for all the people gathered in it.
After a good while, Song Dayi wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and stepped forward to Su Wan's side. In a low voice he said, "Master's wife, pray instruct us concerning the funeral rites for our master. Word must be sent one by one to the elders and seniors of every branch, and I had thought to hurry to Longji Peak to inform our sister Linger, so that she might..."
"There is no hurry for that!" Su Wan suddenly cut Song Dayi short, saying mildly.
Song Dayi was startled, and the disciples behind him, Ming Li among them, were all struck dumb for a moment. In the Hall of Quiet Cultivation all fell hushed, without a sound.
Only after a good while did Song Dayi muster his courage and venture cautiously, "Master's wife, our master has passed, and your disciples all understand your grief. Only these rites... they cannot be delayed."
Su Wan's expression did not change in the slightest. More than that, she did not even glance at Song Dayi. In her eyes there was nothing but the figure of Tian Buhui, save that one look she had given the Old Seven who had just returned.
Embarrassment showed on Song Dayi's face, and for a moment he did not know what to do. He looked back at the junior brothers kneeling on the ground and burning paper money, but they too exchanged glances, at a loss. Just then Su Wan spoke and called out, "Daren."
Song Dayi hastened to answer, "Yes, master's wife. What are your orders?"
Su Wan said, "You and the others step outside for now. Without my summons, you are not to come in."
Song Dayi froze for a moment, then retreated a few steps. The junior brothers beside him all looked over. Song Dayi frowned and said nothing. He Dachuan, usually the sharpest of them, standing at his side, gave him the slightest shake of the head, anxiety written on his face. Seeing it, Song Dayi only knit his brows the tighter.
He had been with these junior brothers longer than he could reckon, and he knew full well what weighed on He Dachuan's mind. Of all the disciples he had followed Tian Buhui and Su Wan the longest, and no one understood better than he the deep devotion between master and wife. If, with the rest of them gone, their master's wife should in her grief take some desperate notion, would that not...
At that thought Song Dayi went white with fright, and his feet would not stir no matter what. Just then Su Wan shot a glare at the several of them and said with a touch of anger, "What are you about? Is it that once your master is dead, you no longer set any store by the words of this master's wife?"
"Thump! Thump!"